Faith
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Core Tenants
The Virtues are in balance with the Vices, if such balance is ever lost it would risk these etheral beings being set loose to do battle upon the face of Elyria once more. They were sealed away because their lack of harmony threatened to destroy Mankind and serve as a grim lesson of the dangers presented when one side or the other grows too powerful. In order to ensure this balance both in religious and practical matters, we are forming the Holy Order of Thearyn.
The Holy Order of Thearyn seeks to ensure balance in all things. Man is entitled to the sweat of his brow but he is not entitled to the enslavement of his fellows. Virtue and Vice, Conflict and Peace, Religion and Politics, all must be allowed room to grow without being given free reign to destroy the Kingdom through their delusions of grandeur. The Virtori understand better than most the disasters and calamities which await the world if balance is lost, and the Holy Order is dedicated to ensure that such a thing never occurs again.
The Holy Order of Thearyn
The Holy Order of Thearyn
The Holy Order of Thearyn is a multi-branch organization which focuses on the expansion and growth of the various aspects of the Kingdom, whether they be religion or guild or mercenary in nature.
Diligence
Protection of the citizen is paramount in the Kingdom. The Order will tirelessly patrol the the road networks and offer their protective services to those who venture out into the dangers of the wilds for a greatly reduced cost. This ensures that new citizens making their way in the world will not be left unprotected due to their lack of coin.
Unity
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Every Dutchy and town have individual needs and benefits. The growth and unity of the Kingdom is paramount and the Holy Order seeks to achieve this vision. Through obvservation of a town's requirements and surplus, the Order will seek to ensure that needed supplies flow to areas which require the most growth while at the same time not choking the flow of wealth to the more developed cities. Incentives will be offered to those guilds and orders which expand and aid the lesser areas, bringing them up to predetermined levels of wealth and production. By leaving no weak chains in the links of the Economy, the Kingdom will grow both stronger and more united.
Benevolence
The Virtori understand that other religions must be given room to grow into their own as well. The Holy Order seeks to offer aid to them in their efforts to administer to the needs of the masses. To bring religion and its peaceful ways to everyone and thus prevent misdeeds before they have a chance to form in the hearts of Man is a noble quest which should not be stifled by any one belief. Instead the Holy Order seeks to ensure that no Religion forgets its purpose in favor of corruption and the exploitation of its believers.
Justice
Not all men see equally but Justice is blind. The ruler of the Dutchy is entitled to his decrees so long as they do not harm the very people he rules. The Holy Order understands that the ruler must be granted freedom to expand upon his ambitions, but also understands that the tears of the servant cannot go unnanswered.
The Holy Order shall serve as the watchers throughout the land. Their ceaseless efforts will be to ensure that ambition does NOT come at the expense of Humanity. Should a citizen suffer the abuse of one who seeks to gain their power through tyranny over the common man, the Order shall stand ready to intervene and ensure that fairness and productivity are only outcome. After all, it was the reckless ambitions of the Virtues and Vices which almost destroyed Mankind. History cannot be allowed to repeat itself.
The Executioners are the Order's Judgement and the hour of wrath. They are only summoned at times of peril when Chaos and Sin threaten to harm the Kingdom. They ride into the madness of disorder and leave silence in their wake. They are the punishment incarnate and show neither heistation nor mercy. The ONLY time an Executioner should sally forth should be when a corrupt power which has proven themselves to be beyond redemption must be dismantled to their very foundation.
Valor
In a perfect world there would be no need to seek peace by preparing for war. This however, is not a perfect world. No conflict can ever truly be prevented should enough individuals seek it and to pretend otherwise would be madness.
The Holy Order understands this and as such will field a dedicated task force of warriors to crush these powers who have sought to destroy the balance of the Kingdom. This is not to say that conflict will never be allowed. Rather it is to say that conflict must be CONTAINED.
To accomplish this two powers who have gone beyond the reach of a peaceful conclusion will approach the Holy Order and declare their grievances. The Order will then give their blessing for combat to ensue. The participants will then be given free reign to target each other's forces as well as anyone and anything which DIRECTLY belongs to the leadership of said powers. This means that they will not be allowed to target associates or partners nor will those associates or partners be allowed to participate unless they too file a grievance and and recieve a blessing. The conflict will be allowed to continue until one power either submits...or the only thing which remains of them is tattered banners and bloody flags.
Financial prosperity
The various guilds must have incentive to work towards a greater cause. Working closely with the Holy Order to ensure that no city is left to starve or rot throughout the Kingdom is a dream which benefits everyone from the lowest servant to the mightiest ruler.
Settlements which attain the rank of at least a Township will be granted entry into the Lesser Council of the Order of Prosperity. They will have the right to send a representative who'm their people have chosen, so that the town has a say in the affairs of the Kingdom.
Selected Guilds who'm have been chosen by the Lesser Council will be eligible to send a representative to the Greater Council of the Order of Prosperity ; the representatives of the coalitions of representatives, so to speak. Here they will be able to voice the needs of their designated crafts throughout the Kindom and work together to ensure that prosperity reaches anywhere and everywhere it needs to.
The Council of Lords will be comprised of rulers who have accepted the Holy Order and its ways into their lands. They will stand above both Greater and Lesser Councils and will hear the needs of the Kingdom. Here they will be able to work together to bring about what the two Councils don't have the power to achieve while listening to their advise, thus ensuring that the Kingdom's flow of prosperity never falters.
The Holy Order will work with guilds both small and large to help boost them; remember we do not want to control them but to grow them so to do this we have set up two councils within the Holy Order.
Honesty
Rulers, Guilds, and Cities all need room to grow while being kept abreast of the developments across the Kingdom. To this end the Holy Order will develop an Inquisition, advisors who are comprised of elite warriors in the art of politics and personal combat. Inquisitors will ensure that no seeds of corruption are allowed to grow and that no leadership is left un-aided. Through their observance and words they will work tirelessly to provide the best of their services to bring about the furtherment of the Kingdom while also helping guide said leadership to the achievement of its personal aspirations. No two powers need be alike, but neither should they be left to fend for themselves or fall prey to greater powers.
Events and Community
The Holy Order will put on a huge number of events, community gatherings and anything they can to bring people together in a joyous way!
We will hold tournaments as well to see who has the meddle in the jousting ring or in melee.
Respect
Above all the Holy Order seeks to serve as the balancing force which ensures that respect is observed towards everyone of all walks of life. The commoner should not fear their Counts, the Count should not fear their bishop, the Bishop should not fear their Merchants and Craftsmen, and the Merchants and Craftsmen should not fear their commoners. The Kingdom must stand united and the easiest and most successful way to ensure this is to create an environment where all individuals respect each other.
Camaraderie
At the end of the wood splitting competition is the wood left unused? No. At the end of the quarterstaff contest is the champion's prowess forgotten in time's of danger? No. Should the farmer be any less proud of his accomplishments and abilities than the Count? No.
Throughout history contests have served the twofold purpose of providing entertainment as well as aid. The largest pig at the fair goes towards feeding others, the wood from the lumberjacks warms homes, and the crafted tools of the blacksmith aid villages. The Holy Order will continue this time-honored tradition by establishing competitions which are aimed at aiding those dutchies and areas which are in most need of a helping hand up in resources and development. Additionally the winners of these contests shall have their names marked in the Order's books and publicize this information, that all may know who are best suited to go to first in a time of need as the years go by.
Additionally the contest of marshall prowess is equally important. The Order will mark the names of winners in a similar manner so that they may have their skills advertised on a larger scale. Whether it be jousting or swordplay or brawling, efforts of stealth or of speed, all will have the chance to mark their names and prove their mettle.
The leaders of men have not been forgotten in this either. Once a year the Holy Order will organise a large scale event known as a Campaign. This is a contest of military prowess and will serve the twofold purpose of allowing the lords and leaders to prove their worth by sallying forth, as well as by giving the Kingdom opportunities to practice its warfare manoeuvres in a contained and regulated environment.
To achieve this a host duchy will be selected out of a pool of volunteers. Its boundaries will serve as the borders of the campaign. Volunteers from all over the Kingdom shall be given mock assignments and uniforms of certain distinguishing colors which will mark them as blacksmiths, guards, merchants, and all manner of individuals which one would typically find residing in a Dutchy. They will travel and visit the places of work which a normal individual would go to and shall serve as targets for participating forces. This will prevent a Campaign from interrupting a Dutchy's normal flow of activity and reduce misfire chances to a minimum.
Participating military forces, also marked in distinguishing colors, will field a variety of arms in mock-battles and mock-sieges throughout the Dutchy. They will target both the military capabilities and the civilian infrastructure of their rivalling teams by following a variety of predetermined objectives within a predetermined timeframe. In addition to standard marshall prowess there shall be objectives for stealth and mock-assassination which will need to be completed as well.
To ensure that no non-participating citizens of the Kingdom are targeted, the Holy Order shall sally forth in force to provide living boundaries and to watch for any foul play. Participating leaders shall be held directly accountable for the actions of their forces, and should they use this Campaign as an opportunity for treachery and rule breaking, they shall answer to the Dukes, the Holy Order, and the King. Punishment will be severe.
All participating teams must review a set of rules and agreed upon consequences for any breaking of them, whether this be a penalty to score or a swift and brutal retaliation for treachery. This will be up to all participating leadership to agree upon and must first be granted the consent of the King before implementation.
Campaigns will allow leadership to field their forces and practice their manoeuvres in a live-environment, bringing people together in friendly competition while also further preparing the Kingdom to repulse any would-be invaders.
Virtori Vult
